


Second Times The Charm

by FrickenChicken_FuckinCluckin



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, But hes an ass and will be written as such, Diego is a mamas boy, Everyone is messed up but they're trying this time, Give this man child some coffee, Grace Hargreeves Is An Angel, Honestly give everyone a hug 2k19, I dont actually hate luther, I have issues with Pogo, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Let These People Be A Family, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy is stressed, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-01-07 02:58:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18401747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrickenChicken_FuckinCluckin/pseuds/FrickenChicken_FuckinCluckin
Summary: Five takes them seventeen years into the past after Vanya destroys the moon. They finally have the chance to be a family but everything is easier said than done, but damn it they're going to try this time.





	1. Coming Back Home

**Author's Note:**

> Yoo this show is so good! But this fic idea is pretty unoriginal but that was such a good and frustrating ending!

Blue light surrounded them on every side, a chunk of the moon was headed straight for them but the only thing Ben could focus on was the fact they all changed to look like they did when they were kids, before he died. How his brothers shoulder under his hand felt warm, he could _feel_ the fabric of the blazer he was now wearing. He couldn’t feel anything for _years_. But now he could feel too much. God, how does Five do this? It felt like his head was going to explode and he could tell it was only going to get worse.

 

Then the light got more intense and he could hear the piece of the moon getting closer. Then it all stopped. He felt as his body hit the floor and heard his siblings groan as they all sat up. They all looked at one another taking in the sight of their younger selves. Ben looked to his left where Klaus was sitting. They made eye contact before Klaus reached out a hand and poked his brothers shoulder.

 

“Holy shit.” Klaus whispered, “Dude! You’re alive!”

 

“Holy shit.” Ben echoed his brother as he looked down at his hands, turning them over and putting them down on the rug covering the hardwood floor of the entryway. He continued to look down in wonder as he ran his hands across the material, _feeling_ it.

 

“Oh my god, Ben!” It was Allison who broke the silence. He looked up and saw all his siblings looking at him like they, well, saw a ghost. All except Vanya, who was passed out in Luther’s arms.

 

“Hi, Alli.” He whispered, a huge smile breaking out on his face. His sister shot forward, throwing her arms around him. It took a second but he could feel two other sets of arms around him, one from his left; Klaus and one from his right; Diego. He looked over at Luther who was still holding Vanya, he looked as though he was about to cry but he seemed almost scared as well. Ben smiled at him, trying to quietly reassure his brother that it was fine, he was fine. When he finally got Luther to smile back Ben’s eyes drifted down to the girl in his brother’s hands.

 

Vanya had always been small but she looked more so than usual as she laid unconscious in Luther’s arms. Ben’s brow quickly furrowed, “Where is Five?” He asked. They’d all been wrapped up in seeing Ben they hadn’t noticed they were missing a sibling.

 

“Shit.” Diego pulled away and looked over to his right to find Five passed out besides him. The rest pulled away from their lost brother to crowd around their recently found one. “Is he okay? Is he breathing? F-five?” Diego asked in rapid succession. He was trying to down play just how worried he was but it shined through.

 

“Hey, old man, come on and wake up! Can’t let those assholes beat you now! You’re so close, so why don’t you wake up!” Klaus said right after, not trying to hide his worry at all. Allison worried her bottom lip looking at Five like she was trying to mentally will him awake, while subconsciously rubbing her throat.  

 

“Guys get back.” Ben cut in, “Give him some space. He just took six people, plus himself, back in time about seventeen years. He’s never done that before. Everyone has limits, even Five. He probably just needs a lot of rest and then food and water. They both do.”  He finished looking at Five before turning his eyes to Vanya for his last sentence.

 

“Yeah, yeah that makes sense.” Luther nodded, “Diego can you…” He gestured to Five with head. Diego nodded once while turning to his other brother.

 

“Jesus for a small kid he’s heavy.” Diego complained, throwing Five over his shoulder, unlike the bridal style option Luther took, consern growing a little when it did nothing to get a reaction out of the other boy.

 

“Well, you’re also thirteen again so you aren’t as strong.” Ben pointed out. They began to make their way up the grand staircase when they heard a door open from the hall closest to them, at the top of the staircase.

 

“Children? What is the meaning of this?! It is far past your bedtime.” They all froze as a voice most hoped to never hear again yelled at them.

 

“Shit, shit, shit!” Klaus said speaking what was on all their minds, “We didn’t think about the old man.”

 

“Quick everyone hide, I’ll deal with him.” Allison instructed the boys in a hushed tone.

 

Luther looked at her worriedly, “Are you sure?”

 

Allison looked to the side hesitantly, before looking at Vanya and making eye contact with him, something hard in her brown eyes, “Yes. Now hide.” Before anyone could say another word she stood up and walked to the center of the staircase where she was met with Reginald Hargreeves.

 

“Number Three, what are you doing awake? We have training in the morning and you cannot perform accurately if you are tried. To bed at once, I will deal with you in the morning.” She began to do as told, almost on autopilot, when a loud bump came from the living room, then harsh whispering. Allison rolled her eyes, they were so close, her brothers were idiots. Their dad briskly walked down the stairs and into the living room, Allison trailing behind him. In the living room they were greeted by the sight of Vanya on one couch with Ben next to her, running his hand through her hair looking disappointed but not surprised at the other four boys. Five was laying on the other couch though it was obviously not done with the same level of care as Vanya was afforded. Around him Luther, Diego, and Klaus formed a semi-circle all arguing, in what they probably thought were quiet voices.

 

“It wasn’t my fault, okay? I thought he moved!” Diego was glaring at Klaus

 

“Yeah but you still dropped our poor, little Number Five.” Klaus said making puppy eyes at his brother and ruffling Five’s hair.

 

“But I caught him!” Diego was beginning to look more and more upset.

 

“You fell on the floor with him. I had to pick him up.” Luther argued this time.

 

“I hel-” Diego began but was cut off when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. “Sh-shit” he mumbled.

 

“Children, it is far too late for you to be awake! I am thoroughly disappointed in all of you.” Reginald said making eye contact with each kid, his eyes only skimming over Vanya, not paying the unconscious girl any mind. His eyes briefly lingered on Five for a second before he turned around, “There will be punishments tomorrow morning. Go to bed now.” He began to walk away.

 

Allison looked at the ground for a second before whipping around, “Wait, Sir!” She called, continuing once her father turned to face her, “ _I heard a Rumor you forgot we were up late and that you won’t punish us in the morning._ ” She watched as his eyes turned white as the rumor took control. He walked out of the room without another word.

 

The four conscious boys all turned to her with wide eyes,”I’m sorry, I panicked!” She said when no one else talked.

 

“Why didn’t we ever do that before?!” Klaus finally broke the silence, “That could have saved us so much pain!”

 

“Yeah, we were kinda stupid kids, huh?” Ben nodded, agreeing with Klaus.

 

“I don’t know, but we should go to bed anyways, we can’t do much with those two out.” Allison said gesturing at the two sleeping figures.

 

“I agree. Plus, that way we can be more alert when they do wake up.” Luther said.

 

Once again Luther picked up Vanya, while Diego slung Five over his shoulder but this time with a nervous Klaus walking closely behind them, much to Diego’s annoyance. The siblings made their way up the stairs as quickly as they could. Luther and Diego put Vanya and Five in their beds, making sure to be much more gentle this time. The other five awkwardly waved and said goodnight to each other. But soon Ben was in Vanya’s room because he was worried about her and so was Allison, Klaus missed Ben, and Diego said he couldn’t trust the others to be on their own.  Luther heard them all moving around and he didn’t want Five to wake up alone but now that he’s here he might as well stay to protect them, just in case. Before the sun even rose all the Hargreeves kids were asleep in a big pile, taking up all of Vanya’s small room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on getting characterization right but hopefully it won't be too ooc
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, let me know if there are any mistakes!
> 
> I’m at lets-get-in-reformation on tumblr come say hi!


	2. The First Morning Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya wakes up and is met with both friendly and unfriendly faces. Emotions are running high and something weird is up Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda just a short piece but we'll kick the plot into full swing next chapter!
> 
> Also like I said I have issues with Pogo and that's brought up in this chapter so if you like Pogo sorry not sorry? :/

Vanya let out a small groan as she slowly began to wake up, blinking while she tried to figure out what happened the night before, she felt like she’d been hit by a huge semi truck. Suddenly she sat up, Vanya frantically looked around taking in the sight of her old bedroom. Didn’t she destroy it? It must have been a dream but it had all felt so real, but that still didn’t explain why she was in her room. That past week couldn’t have all been a dream there was no way. 

 

Vanya felt something move next to her and she shot out of her bed but tripped over something on the floor, that—that let out a noise? She looked down and saw Diego laying on her floor. Wait, this kid was too small to be her brother they were all grown up, there was no possible way she would have dreamed up an entire lifetime. She looked around her room and saw it filled with all her siblings but the younger versions of them. She quickly walked down the hall to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. She froze as she saw her younger self, just how she looked when she saw herself in the cage window. She stumbled back hitting the wall. This wasn’t possible, it didn’t make any sense. Last she remembered she had been playing at the concert, everything felt fuzzy but she remembered her siblings were fighting men with guns and then—then they came after her. That’s right she had hurt them, she hurt Allison, and they were trying to stop her from hurting everyone else, but no— they hurt her first. They left her behind and when she needed them  they threw her in a cell. But then there was a bang and everything in her exploded, she felt as every emotion and feeling she had left her in a powerful burst. Then nothing. 

 

“Vanya? Vanya can you hear us? Vanya!” That sounded like Allison when they were younger but she cut Allison’s throat she wouldn’t be able to talk. 

 

“Vanya? You’re ok just focus on us.” That one was Ben but that’s even more impossible. Ben is dead and he has been for years, he can’t be here. They must be something made up by her mind. Of simpler times before she hurt them, before Ben died, before everything.

 

“Vanya please open your eyes. We promise you’re ok.” Not-Allison said again. If they weren’t real then what was the issue if she listened to them? They were both dead anyways. 

 

Vanya slowly opened her eyes, she hadn’t realized she closed them until Not-Allison told her to open them. When they finally fluttered open she saw young version of her sibling, just like the ones in her room. “What—What's happened? What’s going on?” 

 

Her “siblings” smiled at her and sent each other relieved looks. Not-Ben spoke first, “What is the last thing you remember?” He asked, almost nervously. 

 

“I don’t—I don’t know. I was playing at the concert, there was fighting and I, god I hurt everyone, didn’t I?” She said looking desperately between the other two occupants of the bathroom. 

 

They shared another look before Not-Allison began, “Yeah...but we’re fine now. Everyone is safe. We can explain everything to you but we should all be there, do you want to go back to the bedroom?” 

 

Vanya nodded slowly and let the, apparently, very real Allison pull her up. The three slowly made their way back to the small room. Ben jogged ahead a little, whispering to the other people in it. Vanya took in a small gasp when she saw all of them, all her siblings, not figments of her imagination, standing around the room. Klaus gave her a small wave with his hand, that lacked its signature ‘hello’ on it, and small smile. Luther was standing in the corner eyeing her, he obviously didn’t like Allison touching her but from the look on the other girls face he wouldn’t be saying anything about it. Diego looked ready to attack if necessary, keeping a good distance between them but planting himself firmly in front of Klaus and the bed. Vanya peered around him to look at what was on the bed that made him feel the need to block her from it. 

 

There on her small cot was Five. He was unconscious and for the first time in a long time, he looked  _ small _ . He’d always been short, even more so once they grew up and he came back looking like a thirteen year old, but his usual confidence and general presence was anything but tiny. But seeing him like this: pale, almost sickly, and haphazardly place on the bed, he looked like a little kid.

 

“Is—is he...ok?” Vanya asked quietly when Diego noticed her looking and moved to block her view. Diego opened his mouth to respond before Ben cut him off. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, he’s fine. Just needs a while to recharge and get stronger is all.” 

 

He pointedly ignored the ‘no thanks to you.’ Diego mumbled but Vanya still heard it. She winced at the comment, did she…“What happened?” 

 

The air grew nervous as soon as the words left her mouth, the other five all looked at each other, silently communicating something she couldn't understand. 

 

Allison sighed, “I know this is a lot, but after you knocked all the boys down at the concert I was still behind you, we figured out that you used sound to help you control your powers, I had a gun so I pulled the trigger next to your ear. But when I did you let out this beam-like thing, it shot into the sky and, and, well it blew up the moon.” She paused giving her sister a once over to make sure Vanya was ok. 

 

“Yeah and the pieces came hurtling towards earth. You caused the apocalypse! You were the one who killed us all and forced Five to live through literal hell for decades! We’re lucky Five was there. He took us all back in time to try and stop the apocalypse and now he won’t wake up!” Diego took over after Allison’s hesitation.

 

“Diego!” Allison hissed.

 

“What?! It’s true! You can’t ignore the facts Allison, even if she’s our sister, she caused the apocalypse, she killed Pogo and mom! She was going to kill all of us!” He argued back at her.

 

“She needed our help and we let Luther lock her in a cage! We ignored her our whole lives until it was too late, this is all of our faults, Diego. And last I remembered you and Klaus were trying to get her out of that damn cage!” Allison said continuing to glare at him. 

 

“What about Pogo?! What about Mom?!” Diego yelled.

 

“Pogo knew everything! He sat back and watched as Dad abused us, lied to us! Hell Pogo even helped him, he enabled Dad’s abuse!” Allison yelled back.

 

“And Mom? Huh? What’s the excuse there, Allison? She didn’t mean too? She was trying to kill us, not mom, so she shouldn’t be held accountable for that either?!” Diego took a step closer to the two girls. Allison just stared at him with wide eyes. Tension began to fill up the room as the rest stared at the pair, who were still maintaining eye contact. Klaus let out a quiet, nervous chuckle but was hit in the arm by a worried Ben, he didn’t want this to get out of hand. They were here to fix things not make them worse. 

 

A loud gasp of air coming from the bed seemingly broke them out of their trance, they all looked to the back wall of the room and saw a very panicked looking Five sitting up on the small mattress, who quickly stood up from the bed once he realized he was on it.

 

“Five!” Vanya exclaimed, taking half a step ahead with a relieved smile on her face but stilled when Diego sent her a glare, clearly a warning to stay away. Ben and Klaus, the two closest to the other boy, quickly scrambled over to their brother.

 

“Hey there buddy! You gave us a fright there for a second. You should have seen Diego’s face when we noticed that you weren’t waking up!” Klaus laughed lightly but it sounded a little stressed. Five just stared at him with wide, frantic eyes, before they quickly darted across the room, only stopping for half a second before going to the next person. Until finally they landed on the other boy standing next to him. Five furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to look at Ben, who was slowly starting to become slightly uncomfortable. It was odd suddenly becoming the center of someone’s full attention after over a decade of no one seeing him at all. 

 

“Huh.” Was all Five said before his eyes closed and he crumpled to the floor.

 

“Five? Five!” Ben yelled once he saw his brothers eyes shut. He dove to try and keep Five from hitting his head on the ground. Ben managed to catch him and slowly sank to the floor with his brother. “Hey Five, come on wake up again, that was really not cool, man.” Ben said quietly, gently shaking Five’s shoulder.

 

He looked up, with worried eyes trying to say  _ what do we do now?  _ But everyone else was frozen and looked just as worried and confused as he felt. “Well that was...interesting.” Klaus said in the same tone he had when Five had first woken up.

 

“That’s one word for it.” Luther mumbled his agreeance. 

 

“Is he ok?” Vanya asked in her usual anxiously quiet voice, concern seeping into her words. 

 

“I don’t- I don’t know. That was weird, though.” Ben answered even though he wasn’t sure how to, “Maybe he needs more rest?” He suggested. 

 

“Yeah but he woke up on his own then passed out again after what? Like, thirty seconds? What if he does that again, I’m not sure it’s just a needing to recharge thing.” Luther replied 

 

“Maybe we should get mom to look at him. Just to be safe, no one knows what could have happened but if anyone can figure it out, it’d be mom.” Diego said, still looking st the unmoving form of his brother. 

 

“Ditto on that one mi hermano.” Klaus said. 

 

“Yeah that seems smart.” Allison said though she sounded still on edge, ready to fight back. 

 

“I’ll go get her then.” Diego quickly volunteered to go.

 

“Wait, what about dad? Last night he said we have training today.” Ben remembered his “father” saying that to them. 

 

“Shit. He’s right dear old daddy did say that. Annnnd, if I remember right, we only have like five minutes until we need to be up and ready for breakfast.” Klaus said dramatically turning around to look at Vanya's alarm clock. “Yup! Five more minutes then we’re off to hell! And our older little brother is in a maybe-coma. Ya know it’s almost funny, god kicked me out of heaven then, like, two days later this little demon sends me back to hell.” He continued, leaning down to pat Five’s head, obviously taking advantage of the fact Five couldn’t kill him if Klaus touched him. The action cause Ben to give Klaus a look that clearly said  _ I’m done with you _ . Klaus just smiled back. 

 

“We still need mom to look at Five. We’ll just have to lie to dad about what’s wrong with him.” Allison said. 

 

“Also am I the only one who noticed the way dad looked when he was Five last night? It was a different kind of disappointment then the one he gave us. Do you think, maybe, Five should be gone? Like, has he already left or what?” Diego decided to bring it up incase they never got the chance to talk about it again. 

 

“Yeah I saw that too. I’m not sure though, we have no idea what date Five brought us back to.” Luther added. 

 

“Thanks for the help there, Number One.” Diego said sarcastically, giving his brother a slight glare. 

 

Luther bristled before Klaus jumped in the middle of them, almost literally. “Now, now, I too love testosterone in the morning, but how about you beat each other up  _ after _ we come up with a plan? Hmm?” He asked looking between his two standing brothers. 

 

“He’s right guys, we came here to help Vanya and to try and fix this family. We’ve been here less then a day and we’ve already failed. Aren’t you tired of the constant fighting? You never know what day is going to be your last so why fight everyday when you can try and actually be friends and care about one another?” Ben asked them, “I’ve had to watch all these years as you guys fell apart and left each other behind. I don’t want to have to watch you guys destroy yourselves and each other. Okay? Not again.” 

 

At least everyone had the decency to look a little ashamed of themselves. Except for Klaus who just smiled at him and put his hands together to look like he was about to pray, but instead bent down a little and shook them in a mock bow. Ben rolled his eyes fondly at his brother. Klaus could be annoying, sure and it was hard to stand by and watch him fall into drugs and homelessness but Ben was glad that of all his siblings Klaus was the one to see the dead. 

 

It was a selfish thought. Klaus was terrified of the dead, they were the whole reason he got into drugs and everything the pills brought with them. But Ben couldn’t image being by anyone else’s side for all those years. 

 

“We should go to our own rooms, so we don’t get in trouble when mom comes to get us.” Luther said, eyeing the bedroom door. 

 

“Yeah, lets go.” Diego said gruffly, he glared at Vanya and then Allison as he stormed out of the room. Luther walked over to where Ben was propped up on the wall with Five in his lap. The stronger boy leaned down to pick up Five, after he did so he quickly left the room without a word, not daring to look at anyone. 

 

“Well that was some fun family bonding right there. The team is back together, and better than ever!” Klaus said as he helped Ben up and began walking to the door. Ben sighed and rolled his eyes before following his eccentric brother out the door. He paused and put his hand on Vanya's arm, he squeezed it and gave her a reassuring smile. 

 

Just as he heard Allison’s door close, Ben could hear the click of their moms high heeled shoes against the hardwood, signally the start of their first day back at the academy. 

 

He heard a knock on his door, “Ben, dear it’s time to get up now, breakfast is in a minute and your father expects you to be on time!” His mother’s overly happy and kind voice called through the wood separating them.

 

“Okay, mom! I’m almost ready.” He called and listened as he heard her knock on the next door. But the truth is nothing could help him get ready to face Reginald Hargreeves again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said kinda shorter but things pick up next time!


	3. An Almost Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings try and come up with a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I was on my loving Five juice while writing this. I have a lot of headcannons for before Five went missing. Honestly I was think of just writing a series of little moments from their childhood

Once he heard their moms heels descend down the stairs he stepped out into the hallway, at the same time as the rest of his siblings exited their own rooms. They all stood there just looking at each other. 

 

There was a beat of silence before Klaus let out a long, dramatic sigh. “You know we could just hide in one of the other hundreds of rooms until Five gets better. And maybe longer.” 

 

“No. We need to be smart about this, there’s too much at stake for us doing something like that.” Luther said. 

 

“Oh yeah? And what’s your brilliant plan Number One? Because the last few you’ve had have turned out so well.” Diego snapped at the other boy. 

 

“Guys! Focus, we only have a minute to get ready for what’s about to happen and we don’t have a single plan.” Ben said, trying to stop the impending argument. 

 

“Bens right, we need to stay on task. We need to figure out what to tell dad about Five without him asking too many questions.” Allison said, continuing where Ben ended. 

 

“We should approach this with the thought Five has already gone to the future. And if it’s not happened yet then it shouldn’t be a big deal, but just in case.” Ben suggested. 

 

“Yeah, yeah that makes sense, so we just need an excuse as to why he’s in a coma. Easy.” Klaus said sarcastically. 

 

“Wait, would dad even know Fives back? I mean Allison rumored him into forgetting we were up last night.” Vanya asked, Allison having filled her in after the boys left her room. 

 

“Well I only rumored him into forgetting we were up late...which is when he saw Five. I don’t think he will then. That gives us some time to think of something, right?” She asked looking around the circle they had subconsciously formed. 

 

“It does, but, we should probably get mom to check on him like we talked about earlier and she’ll definitely tell dad, it’s in her programming. We can’t take care of him on our own, we have no way of telling what’s wrong with him and that means no way to help him.” Ben said. He would prefer just not bringing up their brother at all around their father. Five had always been the most free willed of them and he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, Ben has always admired him because of that. But with that fire came Reginald’s anger. 

 

Their dad wanted perfect loyal soldiers who didn’t ask questions, toys he could control and he almost got that. Luther was loyal to no end, Diego was always trying to prove he was just as good, if not better, than Luther which led him to unconsciously do just what Reginald wanted. Allison was self-centered and petty when they were younger and didn’t really pay the others, except Luther, any mind most of the time. Klaus was too scared to ever stand up to the man and Ben himself was the same way. Poor Vanya was too nervous and self conscious to say anything to  _ anyone _ let alone the man that called himself their father. But Five was different, sure he had been arrogant and could be cruel at times which would cause fights and hurt feelings, but he always cared for them, all of them. Ben couldn’t be sure if the others noticed or not but that love for them had been there long before any apocalypse separated them. 

 

Ben saw it in the way Five acted up more when Diego was feeling particularly angry at their dad and was starting to talk back to get the attention on him instead. It was in the way he would sneak out when Klaus was in the mausoleum and come back looking more tired than when he left. It was the mess Allison and Luther left behind disappearing in a flash of blue before their father could find it. Giving Ben a book recommendation once he finished the last one, but not any recommendation, a story based fiction novel, nothing like the non-fiction books Five enjoyed, yet they were always amazing and Ben loved each one. It could be seen in Fives sudden appearances in Vanya’s room while she practiced and him just laying on her bed reading for a while, simply there to keep her company. Getting up and walking out the door, not jumping, but not before telling her she was amazing, or getting better, or saying she was extraordinary with the violin, that she would make a great first chair just to see her smile. Standing just out of her view to hear the notes that suddenly got more confident, smiling then disappearing in a blue light before anyone could see, or at least he thought no one saw. 

 

That love was something Reginald wouldn't stand for, it made Five loyal not to him but the boys siblings. And it clearly showed, Five was always pushing to learn, to  _ be  _ more and didn’t take kindly to being told ‘no’. Fights would breakout during dinners regularly, which would be preceded by longer, harder training hours, for everyone. Five loved his siblings and Reginald knew it, and tried to use it against him but that led to Five getting angry. It became a war that neither was willing to lose. Reginald had been creative in his abuse but he hadn’t hit them until one day when they were ten, Five pushed a little too hard despite Vanya silently begging him to just stand down. Their dad stood up and before anyone could register what had happened, there was a loud smacking sound and Five was holding his cheek with one hand, wide eyed. That had been the start of a new hatred in Five’s heart, and in almost all of the others as well. The cycle continued fights, more training, red cheeks, hate filled rants, and promises that they were going to escape Reginald if it was the last thing they did. But they never got the chance.

 

Reginald hadn’t cared when Five ran out the door that fateful day, didn’t show any emotion when Five wasn’t there the next day. The kids had held out hope Five would pop back into someone's room yelling about not being able to try time jumping or how much he hated their father, but he never did. Reginald had Five’s portrait painted two weeks after he left, not because he cared but as reminder as to what happens when they didn’t obey, with that portrait came the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches and lights left on all night.    

 

There was no doubt that Reginald would just get mad at Five when he woke up, ‘ _ if he wakes up’ _ a treacherous part of Ben’s mind whispered. Of course Five will wake, the other half assured him. They would need a good excuse for their brother’s current state. But based on how this morning went he was beginning to feel less confident about the morning going very well. He wasn’t sure what would happen when his brother will wake up. He could only pray that the cycle wouldn’t start again, Five was smart, there was no argument to be made there, but he was also headstrong and spiteful. Ben had no way of guessing which way Five would swing when he had to come face to face with their dad. But it was an inevitable confrontation, and they needed a plan. Which was more Fives forte, because of course it is. 

 

“Right, so, either way dad will find out.” Klaus pointed out, “So the question is more so which way he’ll find out, than what if he does.” 

 

“Exactly. I think it may be best if we tell him about Five directly. He’d just get mad if he thinks we were trying to hide it from him by only telling mom.” Ben said.

 

“I agree, we don’t want him to get angry at us now, we should try and put that off for as long as we can. Until we come up with a full plan.” Luther agreed. 

 

“So what do we say to him then? Just walk up and say ‘Hey! Our brother who may or may not be missing is in his room and he won’t wake up. Also we know Vanya has had powers all along!’?” Klaus asked. 

 

Allison rolled her eyes at him. “Of course not, Klaus. We should just tell him we woke up and found Five in his room. We tried to wake him up but he won’t. It shouldn’t be so hard.” 

 

“That may just work. Allison you should probably tell him. I’m not sure he’d listen to the rest of us and since we’re playing the part of our younger selves, Luther probably wouldn’t care either, because dad won’t.” Diego added. 

 

“Okay so we’ve got a plan! Yay us!” Klaus said, bouncing in place and clapping his hands. 

 

“Let’s just try and not mess this up.” Luther said. 

The bell rang from downstairs, letting them know they needed to head down to the table. They all made eye contact, each set of eyes holding the same emotions. Ben took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know things are going slow but I promise next chapter things will start to pick up!
> 
> I’m let’s-get-in-reformation on tumblr come say hi!


	4. Changes Set In Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings tell Reginald about Five and realize some unthought of consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't my best work but I've gotten very busy lately and today was the first day of school so ugh BUT I do plan to get better at posting chapters!

They filled into a single fill line, one through seven, and dutifully marched into the large room where their dining table was placed. They went to stand behind their chairs as their father walked into the room, he pulled out his own seat at the head of the table before telling them to sit. They quickly did as told. All kids sent each other nervous looks across the table, their father didn’t look up once to notice their odd behavior. Their plates were already set out for them when they entered but there was a missing plate next to Vanya, where Five should be sitting. So he’s already left, that made things a little harder than they already were, great. 

 

Allison cleared her throat, “Dad?” She asked in a small voice. 

 

“Number Three, you know the rules, there is to be no speaking during meal times.” Came Reginald’s curt reply. 

 

“I know sir, but, well…” She trailed off looking scared to continue. 

 

“Out with it.” Their dad demanded in a stern tone. 

 

“I went into Five’s room this morning to, um, look for something and he was in there…” That seemed to grab the older man's attention, despite him not looking up.

 

“Number Five was in his room?” He asked. 

 

“Yes, sir. Or, well,  _ is _ , he's still in there. I tried to wake him up but I couldn’t. I think something is wrong.” Allison continued. He hummed in response before standing from the table. 

 

“You are all dismissed. I expect you to work on your studies down here until told otherwise.” He addressed the children. They shared another nervous look. 

 

“What about Five?” Diego asked, looking up at the man.

 

“You are not to worry about him nor are you to try and interfere.” He said, looking displeased that the boy would question him. Diego quickly looked down at his food. “Now leave.” With that he walked away, followed by Grace who gave the kids a warm smile. 

 

Nobody spoke or moved for a minute, before Klaus quietly said, “I hope dad doesn’t punish him when he wakes up. Cause that would suck.” 

 

Ben nodded in agreement, it was more than likely that Reginald would punish Five, harshly, for running out and talking back. Based on the looks on his siblings faces they knew it too. They had no way of knowing just how long Five has been gone, how long Reginald had to plan out his punishment. But there was something else itching at the back of his mind.

 

“When Five left it was after dad told him not to time travel, Five kept saying he could do it and wasn’t afraid to try. I mean dads not dumb, what if he puts two and two together. Do you think he’d do experiments on Five to figure out how he did it?” He asked slowly. 

 

Everyone’s eyes got slightly bigger, “Dad never cared about what he did to us but do you really think he’d force Five to do something that could get him stuck again?” Diego asked. 

 

“As far as dad knows Five didn’t get stuck, or at least for not a long time. Dad doesn’t know that Five was trapped in an apocalyptic wasteland for like 40 years. Just a few days, not enough time for him to take notice.” Ben added. 

 

“So there’s a chance, then.” Vanya said quietly. 

 

“Yeah, but Five isn’t going to let him do anything.” Luther said, looking around, almost unsure.

 

“Did you see Five?! He can’t even stand for thirty seconds do you really think he could pull off his crazy assassin shit?!” Klaus asked his brother. 

 

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, we have no idea as to what may or may not happen. For now the only thing we can do is wait and hope Five gets better soon.” Allison cut in. She was worried about her brother, yes, but she also knew that just sitting around and thinking of all the bad things that may come won’t improve the situation in anyway, in fact it will probably make things worse. “We should just do what dad told us to do, stick to the plan. We need him to think nothing is different with us until Five wakes up and we can make a better, long term plan.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, okay. That’s probably best. But I really don’t like it.” Diego said, looking conflicted.

 

Allison sighed, “I don’t think anyone does, but we need to do it.” For what felt like the fiftieth time since they had gotten back they all solemnly nodded their heads. This was turning out to be harder than Ben thought it would, of course going in they all knew it wouldn’t be easy but actually being faced with the challenges made it all so much more real.  They could only hope for things to be better, they would train Vanya and try to make things better before they head back to their true time, but all that rides on Five who was definitely not ready to do that again anytime soon, there was no way the Hargreeves siblings could go long being back in academy with Reginald for long before someone does something extreme or blows their cover, they couldn’t face the horrors of their childhoods they thought they escaped again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go!   
> Next chapter: we're gonna find out what's up Five...  
> Come say hi on tumblr my username is let's-get-in-reformation

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still working on getting characterization right but hopefully it won't be too ooc
> 
> Feedback is appreciated, let me know if there are any mistakes!


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